Democrats back bill easing PPACA definition of full-time employee
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An Illinois Democratic congressman says he will join forces with Republican colleagues to try to win House passage of legislation that would ease the health care reform law's definition of a full-time employee, shielding more employers from a stiff financial penalty imposed by the law.
Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., on Monday said he will join forces with House Republicans “to make a bipartisan push to a floor vote on this commonsense issue. This needed change to the ACA will protect part-time workers from losing work schedule flexibility and potentially losing 10 hours of wages a week.”
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, employers are required to offer qualified coverage to full-time employees — defined as those working an average of 30 hours per week — or be liable for an annual $2,000 penalty per employee.
That requirement kicks in next year for employers with 100 or more employees and, in 2016 under final Treasury Department regulations issued Monday, for employers with between 50 and 99 employees. The law exempts employers with less than 50 employees from the coverage mandate.
Earlier this month, the House Ways and Means Committee approved on a party-line vote legislation, H.R. 2575, which would change the definition of full-time employees to those working an average of 40 hours per week.
Aside from Rep. Lipinski, three other House Democrats — Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Kurt Schrader, D-Ore. — signed on Monday as co-sponsors of the legislation.
A date has not been set for a House floor vote on the legislation. A similar bill, S. 1188, introduced last year in the Senate by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has been referred to but not acted on by the Finance Committee.
